The Dominican Republic in the twentieth century can be summarized as brutal. The novel In The Time of Butterflies, written by Julia Alvarez was set during the time period 1938 to 1994. During part of that time dictator Rafael Trujillo ruled the island. Although this book is considered historical fiction, it tells the story of four Mirabal sisters: Dede, Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa. They called themselves “Las Mariposas”. The four Mirabal sisters exist in real life. In the book as well as in real life, the sisters are seen as a symbol of courage and strength to the people in the Dominican Republic. They were a part of an underground movement to overthrow Trujillo. The Mirabal sisters are famous for being political dissidents of Trujillo's dictatorship. Trujillo, known as El Jefe, or the boss led a terrible regime.
“The Dominican Republic had Rafael Trujillo, a capricious psychopath, who established perhaps the most effective authoritarian state ever seen in the western hemisphere – one usually defined as right-wing, though more accurately it had no ideology” (Tunzelmann 5).
He embarrassed many people by some of his rules. This is supported by German Ornes and what he wrote in his book Trujillo: Little Caesar of the Caribbean. He states that “Abasement is so thoroughly practiced that when Trujillo appears in public each citizen must remove his hat, place it over his heart, and bow his head” (Ornes, 4). Trujillo enjoyed humiliating others for his enjoyment. Some of his rules were crazy. For instance, “Heavy fines imposed on those who smoke while riding in a car... it is a punishable offense to wear khaki trousers and shirts of the
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Ornes, German E. Trujillo: Little Caesar of the Caribbean. New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1958. Print.
"Rafael Trujillo." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 29 Dec. 2013.
"Inquiry Questions." Wikispaces. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Dec. 2013.
"Mirabal Sisters of The Dominican Republic." The REAL Dominican Republic Travel, Tours, Community, Business and Real Estate. N.p., n.d. Web.30 Dec.2013.
McCallum, Shara. "Reclaiming Julia Alvarez: In the Time of the Butterflies." Ebscohost.com. N.p., n.d. Web.
Soriano, Lorelie E. "In the Time of the Butterflies (Feminist Approach)." Prezi.com. N.p., 1 Mar. 2013. Web. 01 Jan. 2014.
Prodduturu, Aditya. "Imagery and Symbolism in In the Time of The Butterflies." Prezi.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2014.
Boni, Alexis. "English 10 Blog." Blogspot.com. N.p., 13 Nov. 2012. Web. 05 Jan. 2014.
“In The Time of The Butterflies” the sisters were revolutionary activist who were against the Dominican dictator, Rafael Trujillo. The author, Julia Alvarez, uses the four Mirabal sisters to express four different routes of
In The Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, the rule of Rafael Trujillo directly affected all four Mirabal sisters, Patricia, Dede, Minerva, and Maria Mirabal.
At the hands of Trujillo’s secret police and cabinet members, the Dominican people faced oppression and fear in the midst of his tyranny. Opposition to Trujillo's
The novel In The Times of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, consists of a frame narrative told by the only Mirabal sister to survive the reign of Trujillo, Dede Mirabal. This story takes place in the Dominican Republic all the way back in 1938, leading up to the “present” time in 1994. At this time in the Dominican Republic, the country is being ruled by a man named Trujillo, and he is making their homeland an unsafe and horrible place. The Mirabal sisters’ participation in the political movement against Trujillo led to their murder on November 25, 1960. Their action was symbolized as a threat to Trujillo dictatorship, which eventually led to their death.The conclusion that can be taken to assume that the Mirabal sisters were murdered is Minerva
In the novel In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, is a story of three girls who develop from being innocent girls to being part of a revolutionary to stop Trujillo a Dominican dictator. Throughout the story we see each of the sisters go through hard moments in their life. However the sister that has developed the most though is Minerva. She goes from being just a girl with a dream to be a lawyer too a woman willing to sacrifice anything to support the revolution and stop Trujillo.
This text exhibits the events of the 1937 Parsley Massacre. Similar to Junot Diaz’s, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, this text refers back to Trujillo’s dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. Trujillo organized a genocide of Haitians who were in D.R. Danticat allows readers to experience this traumatic event through the perspective of Amabelle Desir, the main character.
Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies is an account of the four Mirabal sisters’ lives in the Dominican Republic during Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship. Three of the Mirabal sisters - Minerva, Patria and Maria Teresa sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom by participating in the underground movement which opposed Trujillo’s dictatorship. Their participation in the revolution was a threat to Trujillo’s power and this resulted in the three sisters being killed. The novel tells the story from the point of view of each of the four siblings. The sisters, also referred to as, “The Butterflies,” each had a different approach to dealing with life under Trujillo’s reign. Minerva, the first person from her family to join the revolution, was motivated by principles and she contributed consistently to the revolution. Dede is the only survivor from the Mirabal sisters’ family, this is because she did not participate in the revolution. However, she takes care of the deceased children and tells the story of
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.” Elements of Literature: Kylene Beers. Austin: Holt, 2009. 842-963. Print.
Rafael Trujillo was the infamous dictator of the Dominican Republic. He was often feared by some and loved by others. Trujillo often attracted followers by utilizing his sexual intrigue. He would take advantage of woman to boost his political power and to put his subjugates on a higher pedestal . Trujillo also changed the “common Dominican household”, with this being he aided in changing the gender relations between males and females. Trujillo also utilized the infamous trait that various men from Latin America take pride, Machismo. With this being said Trujillo utilized gender relation, sexual intrigue and machismo to his favor to get the citizens to jump on his bandwagon causing them to legitimately agree with his regime.
Trujillo use of violence and challenge of political authority demonstrated that from the very beginning he created an insurgency regime within his military ranks that oppressed his country. Which 30 years later, his own military generals and freedom fighters will be the very ones to end his reign. To this very day, some of the Dominican people whether living in the United States or Dominican Republic are hesitate to talk about it, but are glad that it is in the past and
The novel ‘The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’, by Junot Diaz gives a very entertaining insight towards many social dynamics that are relevant to Dominican culture, and it fits very well within the scope of the course; and, although it is a work of fiction, this novel is set in New Jersey, and deals specifically with the Dominican Republic experience under the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. From what I’ve learned after reading the first half of this book, there is certainly a lot that can be discussed. Thankfully the book’s versatile portrayal of vivid topics that are seldom discussed shine light upon these many issues that face such an overlooked culture, especially for the American audience.
Julius Caesar, The Gallic War, trans. Carolyn Hammond (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 181, 183-4, 188-89, 191-94, 241-42.
Minerva Mirabal was the most heroic of the Mirabal sisters. Rafael Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic for 30 years; he was oppressive, creepy, and a little insane. The Mirabal sisters were killed because they tried to rebel against him. Minerva is heroic. Because she was the first of her sisters to join the rebellion, she went to law school, and she slapped the dictator with a slap.
... did not take part in the revolution, her own strength was tested when her sisters were killed by Trujillo, leaving her as the only sister remaining alive. In the Time of the Butterflies allows readers to experience the courage of ordinary people fighting against extraordinary circumstances. The sisters advocated for a change in the Dominican Republic, and without being exceptionally special or extraordinary, they affected the entire county for the better. Today, readers can still learn from this story due to Julia Alvarez’s detailed portrayal of the Mirabal sisters and their story.
Helena Maria Veramontes writes her short story “The Moths” from the first person point of view, placing her fourteen year old protagonist female character as a guide through the process of spiritual re-birth. The girl begins the story with a description of the debt she owes her Abuelita—the only adult who has treated her with kindness and respect. She describes her Apa (Father) and Ama (Mother), along with two sisters as if they live in the same household, yet are born from two different worlds. Her father is abusive, her mother chooses to stay in the background and her sisters evoke a kind of femininity that she does not possess. The girl is angry at her masculine differences and strikes out at her sisters physically. Apa tries to make his daughter conform to his strict religious beliefs, which she refuses to do and her defiance evokes abuse. The girl’s Abuelita is dying and she immerses herself in caring for her, partly to repay a debt and partly out of the deep love she has for her. As her grandmother lay dying, she begins the process of letting go. The moth helps to portray a sense of spirituality, re-birth and becomes, finally, an incarnation of the grandmother. The theme of the story is spiritual growth is born from human suffering.